Norcholanic acids as substrates for recombinant 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and progesterone 5β-reductase, enzymes of the 5β-cardenolide biosynthesis

The conversion of 23-nor-5,20(22)E-choladienic acid-3β-ol and other intermediates of the putative norcholanic acid pathway of cardenolide biosynthesis by recombinant 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase from Digitalis lanata in dehydrogenation and reduction reactions was investigated. 23-nor-4,20(22)E-choladienic acid-3-one was found to be a substrate of recombinant progesterone 5β-reductases from D. lanata and Arabidopsis thaliana. The role of various substrates in cardenolide biosynthesis is discussed.     

Random effects Weibull regression model for occupational lifetime

With great interest we read the recent publication of Sohn et al. [Sohn, S.Y., Chang, I.S., Moon, T.H., 2007. Random effects Weibull regression model for occupational lifetime. European Journal of Operational Research 179, 124–131] on a Weibull regression model with random effects for modelling occupational lifetime. We congratulate Sohn and colleagues on their comprehensive and clearly written paper. Nevertheless, we would like to comment on two points, the first regarding the moments of the underlying Weibull distribution, the second regarding the relations of Sohn’s model to the class of frailty models.     

Thiol‐ene photopolymerization for efficient curing of vinyl esters

Monomers for radical photopolymerization based on vinyl esters (VEs) have recently been identified as suitable alternatives to (meth)acrylates on account of their low irritancy and cytotoxicity. The drawback of most VEs with abstractable hydrogens is their relatively low reactivity compared with (meth)acrylates. Within this article, we proved by photo‐differential scanning calorimetry measurements and real‐time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy that the thiol‐ene concept is able to improve the photoreactivity of these VEs to a large extent to a level between those of acrylates and methacrylates. Other VEs have now a reactivity of at least the level of similar acrylates. Mechanical properties as determined by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis and Charpy impact tests showed significant toughening of these materials. Furthermore, we were able to confirm low toxicity of all components by osteoblast cell culture experiments. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013